Transport top issue for Aussie tourists visiting Gallipoli on ANZAC Day

Deakin University researchers have found transport, ceremonies, meeting expectations, emotional experiences and amenities are critical factors on the level of satisfaction which significantly influences word of mouth recommendations of Australian tourists travelling to ANZAC Commemorations at Gallipoli in Turkey.

Associate Professor John Hall and Research Fellow and PhD student John Basarin said while Battlefield Tourism had become one of the fastest growing tourism phenomena in recent decades, there was relatively little research looking at it from a business or tourism perspective.

Mr Basarin a military history expert, whose latest book "Beneath the Dardanelles" on the Australian submarine the HMAS AE2, is due to be published this Friday (September 5), said with tourist numbers at Gallipoli reaching 12,000 in 2008 and expected to reach 50,000 in 2015 it was important to understand what factors made the event a success and their influence on visitor satisfaction.

"For an event which is not advertised, takes a considerable amount of time, money and effort to attend and takes place at a time and place that is often physically challenging, the participation rate is nothing less than amazing," Mr Basarin said.

"In previous research we have estimated that Australians travelling to ANZAC Day commemorations spend an average $394 per person per day and contribute an estimated $63m to the Turkish economy. Many tourists travel elsewhere after Gallipoli, in particular to Europe and Asia."

Associate Professor Hall and Mr Basarin's research was cited as the best research paper at the 2008 Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE) conference in Queensland.

Associate Professor Hall said transportation and logistics aspects were the feature of the event that the tourists found most dissatisfying.

"The areas the tourists had the most problems with was in the travel arrangements to ANZAC Cove, and between ANZAC Cove and Lone Pine, particularly after the ceremony as well as the wait for buses to take them back to Istanbul," he said. "Some of the aspects they criticised ie the walk to the ceremony at ANZAC Cove and between the Cove and Lone Pine are part of visiting a battlefield site, however adequate preparation and warnings in advance could temper some of the criticisms."

Associate Professor Hall said tourists had been most satisfied with the commemorations at ANZAC Cove and Lone Pine.